


The Things We Do for Love

by ThegreatestBeeofall



Category: Courage the Cowardly Dog
Genre: Aliens, Dark Humor, Eustace isn't that heartless, Friendship, Gen, Implied Murder, Spiders, a bit of horror, sometimes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-04-12 01:39:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19121998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThegreatestBeeofall/pseuds/ThegreatestBeeofall
Summary: We interrupt your scrolling through this site for a story! Lilac Bagges, the granddaughter of Muriel and Eustace! It's hard enough being a teenager, but being a teenager and living in the middle of Nowhere with a nearly oblivious grandmother and a grumpy grandfather? Good luck with that. Thankfully it's a lot easier when your grandparents have a cowardly dog!





	1. The Beginning

A dog in an alleyway wasn’t the most odd sight to see in a city, which was why most people didn’t bother to bat an eye at the little pink puppy near the dumpster. The poor pooch was bawling his eyes out as if there were no tomorrow. Despite it, it seemed that no one had a heart and continued to ignore him. A while had passed, and still no one paid any mind to him. At this rate the dog felt completely helpless. His parents were gone, and he didn’t even know his own name. The worst part? He couldn’t speak properly, and he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone the fate of his parents. The feeling of hopeless soon enclosed over him, but he was far too weak and cold to cry. Not that he cared. He didn’t want to cry anymore anyway. He sniffled and rubbed his eyes. It was silent for a moment before he heard giggling, and an elderly voice.

“Grandma, look, a doggy!” “Oh I see.” A woman stood before him. She had brown hair tan skin, and a chubby physique. A little girl was beside her, holding her hand. She resembled the woman a bit. Save for that she had darker hair and a bit thinner. She looked to be about five or six. “My you poor thing. Out here all alone.” The woman bent down to pick up the puppy and held him close. “What courage you have, isn’t that right Lilac?” So that was the little girl’s name. Lilac nodded in agreement and began to pat the puppy’s back, smiling innocently. “Yeah.” The puppy couldn’t help but smile softly. Hopelessness slowly slipped away from his mind, and at last he felt the state of serenity. “Grandma Muriel! Grandma Muriel! Can we take him home with us?” Lilac began to cling onto ‘Muriel’s’ coat. Muriel only laughed softly in response before shifting her focus to the little pink pup. “Would you like to come home with us?” The woman questioned softly. The pup, in response, only smiled wider and hummed softly. An obvious yes. “We’ll call ya Courage. We’ll have a grand time.” Muriel hummed as she rubbed his head. “Come along Lilac, lets get home.” The young girl nodded and followed behind Muriel, still looking at Courage. “Maybe dad will get to see him.” She hummed. Muriel nodded and smiled softly. “Maybe someday.” And from there, they headed off to their home, unaware they would be in for a wild ride...


	2. A Night at the Katz Motel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When a vacation goes wrong for the Bagge family, they end up staying at a motel.

The day had seemed to unexpectedly go downhill for the Bagge family. It had started off well, as they had decided to head out for a nice camping trip to get a bit of fresh air. The weather was perfect to say the least on the drive there. Clear skies and a cool breeze was just what they needed to make the perfect trip. Unfortunately Mother Nature could digress. As soon as they had arrived at the campsite, the place was completely flooded. It was still pouring with no signs of stopping anytime then. It was too late to go home, so they had decided a motel would be the best place to stay the night at.

Thunder boomed and lightning snapped as a motel finally came to sight. The large neon sign at the front flickered, reading, “Katz Motel; NO Vacancy.” Courage’s teeth began to chatter violently as he got a better view of the motel. It looked fairly suspicious, and a place he would not want to stay at. His anxiety rose as he sunk next to Muriel, leaning against her. Eustace pulled up closer to the motel, getting a better view of it. “Well this looks like a crummy place to end a crummy vacation.” He huffed. Lilac merely scoffed in response and grinned. “A crummy place? This looks like a scene out of a horror movie!” Lightning cracked once more, causing Courage to cry out and to cling onto Muriel. Lilac chuckled sheepishly. “Whoops.”

Once Eustace found a place to park the truck at, the four made their way into the motel. Lilac glanced around the lobby. A dead plant and one chair seemed to be the only thing there, save for the counter and the papers hung about in the nearly vacant room. Courage clung onto Eustace as he made his way to the counter. A bell for assistance was placed on there, as well the check-in book. Oddly enough, as Muriel and Lilac noticed, it seemed no one had checked out yet! Their thoughts were interrupted as Eustace began to ring the bell several times. He looked impatient as he awaited for assistance. Soon enough, someone did come. Well, rose up from behind the desk. A lanky, bipedal cat slithered on out, his appearance consisting of red fur and purple highlights. “Welcome to the Katz Motel, I’m Katz.” He spoke with a smooth voice. Smooth enough to send chills down on nearly everyone’s spine. “Will you please sign in?” He glanced at the family, eyes darting towards Courage once he took notice of him. He snapped his fingers, clearly annoyed before speaking, “No dogs allowed.” He pointed towards the sign. Of course, written in bold letters was “NO DOGS ALLOWED.” Courage placed his paws on his head. “But- but,” He stuttered out. Lilac frowned slightly and turned to Katz. “Come on, can’t you make an exception for him? There’s a storm outside.” She pleaded as she looked at the cat. His eyes narrowed towards her before he spoke. “Motel policy.” With that said, Eustace dragged Courage out of the building and left Muriel and Lilac alone with Katz. “Oh dear…” Muriel mumbled softly as she placed her hand over her mouth. Katz’s gaze remained on Lilac, causing her to shift slightly in discomfort. It didn’t take long before Muriel finished checking in and left the lobby. Katz, along with Lilac, were left alone. “So…” Lilac started. “I’ve noticed no one has checked out.” “They’ve been here for a while.” He replied nonchalantly. Despite not believing his response, Lilac nodded and headed outside.

As expected, she arrived just in time to see Eustace scaring the life out of Courage. The old man cackled sadistically as Courage shook violently. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Do you really have to do that?” Eustace glanced over and huffed. “What? It’s funny.” Muriel stood behind him, and having to watch the entire scene she gave him a smack on the back of his head. He yelped in surprise as he felt the surprising amount of force slammed against his head. He turned abruptly, glaring at Muriel. “What did I do?” She gave him no response, rather the key to their room. He grumbled as he snatched it out of her hand. There was no use of arguing then was what he thought as he marched inside. Muriel had a small blanket wrapped over her arm and bent down to Courage’s height. “Don’t worry,” She wrapped the blanket around him. “It’ll only be for a short time.” She kissed the top of his head before getting up. “Goodnight Courage. Oh! And Lilac, don’t stay out for too long. You’ll catch a cold.” She warned before walking inside. The teen could only nod. “I’ll go inside in a bit.” She promised. She sighed and glanced down at Courage, giving him a soft smile. “You seem excited to be out here.” “Easy for you to say.” He scoffed. “I have to sleep out here all alone, in the dark.” “Oh don’t worry buddy.” She began to rub his head, sliding down against the wooden pole he was tied to. “Like grandma said, you’ll only be out here for a little while.” While he wasn’t exactly on board with the idea of staying out, he could only nod. He didn’t want the family to get in trouble all because of him.

She stopped rubbing his head, getting up from the ground. She looked at him, eyes soft along with a smile. “Goodnight, Courage.” She walked away, and back inside of the motel, leaving him alone. All alone in the dark, with no one with him. He closed his eyes and laid down. He’d make it, and he was sure of it. Somewhat at least.

\----------

A creak was heard as Muriel turned the faucet for the bathtub. The sound of the water running was enough to let Lilac know that she wasn’t changing anytime soon. She groaned as she laid back on her makeshift bed, trying her best to get comfortable. “Can’t wait to sleep in my own bed…” Eustace mumbled as he scratched his back. Lilac looked up and grinned a bit. “I hear ya.” He smirked slightly before turning to the direction of the bathroom. “You hear that Muriel?” No reply. He grumbled and laid back. “Ah what do you know…” He huffed before pulling the blanket over him. He sighed in relief, only making Lilac wish she got to sleep on the bed rather than the dirty old floor. Then again, beggars can’t be choosers, right? With no one to talk to, she grew bored. Thoughts filled her mind as she continued to lie down. Maybe there was some other place she could change at.

Getting up, she walked towards her small bag and pulled out an oversized shirt, as well as a pair of black shorts. As quietly as she could, she opened the door and stepped out. Unbeknownst to her, someone watched her from behind the walls. They watched her every move, even as she closed the door.

\----------

The sounds of footsteps were what made Courage jerk up. He didn’t panic at first. In fact, he grew hopeful that it was Lilac or Muriel. At least one of them that would tell him that he could come inside. But alas, his hopes were crushed as he saw a silhouette of a cat. Not just any cat, Katz himself. The red cat dropped a box across from Courage, causing the dog to whimper softly. And it only grew worse as he opened the box, and left. Courage stared at the box for what seemed like an eternity. At that rate, he just hoped that whatever was in there would just come out. His prayers were answered soon enough unfortunately. The sound of skittering against the floorboards made his heart drop. Red eyes stared at him from afar, making the poor dog shake. Eventually the creature came into sight. A large spider, with beady red eyes and sharp fangs. Courage howled in fright as it came charging towards him, eyes as wide as saucers as the arachnid edged closer and closer. No one could hear his cries for help. To make things even worse for him, he was tied against the pole.

Deciding that he had to get out of there, he began to yank against the rope. No avail. After several more attempts with peculiar methods, he finally decided to chew his way out. He grabbed the rope and bit hard down on it. With a snap, Courage stumbled back slightly and looked at what was left of the rope. Well… that was certainly easier than using a flamethrower. He took off almost immediately, not wanting to stick around any longer to see what the spider would do once it caught him.

He made his way into the building quickly after his escape. He began to run down the empty hall, searching for the others. The sound of screaming had stopped him in his tracks. Looking up, he was in front of room 666½. The screaming would only continue even as he was there. He began to listen more closely, the voice becoming fairly familiar. As he continued to listen, realization hit him. Muriel, she was the one screaming!! “Muriel! She’s in trouble!” He howled to himself. It didn’t take long before he began to bang on the door and tried to open it. “Muriel!! Lilac!!” He looked behind him, seeing a convenient canon placed there. Where and what was it for didn't matter to him as he began to roll it up closer to the window. He hoped inside of it. “Oh I hope this works…” He mumbled before he was shot out of it, and crashed through the window. Surprisingly it did work. He glanced around the room quickly before finally seeing Muriel. Another spider was on her, snapping its jaws at her even as she pushed it away. “Courage!!” She shouted. “Get help!!” Courage nodded and frantically ran around the room. The makeshift bed was there, but Lilac was nowhere to be seen. Which left Courage with only one option; Eustace. He immediately hopped onto the bed, hoping that he could wake the old man up. The first attempt he made was by shaking Eustace. It didn’t work, so what was the best idea that Courage could come up with? Taking out a large and bizarre instrument, before blowing into it as hard as he could. Despite how loud it was, Eustace still did not wake up. Courage howled in frustration and began to pace around. How could he not wake up?? He rushed to the restroom to check on Muriel. The old woman was still fighting the spider off thankfully. It was apparent though that she was afraid and wouldn’t be able to handle it any longer. Not being able to handle the sight anymore, he headed back to check on Eustace. But to his surprise, he was no longer on the bed! In fact, the bed seemed to be neatly made, with no trace of him ever being there. Dread began to fill Courage up fairly quickly. Lilac was gone, and then Eustace. So what was the best thing that he could do? Run down the hallway of course.

\----------

There was nowhere else to change, as Lilac discovered. Not like that was too surprising for her nor was it a letdown. After all, it gave her a chance to look around the place. Speaking of which, she was at the front. She was looking through the sign in book. While she was nosy, she also felt suspicious about this whole place. Especially with the owner. The fact that no one had signed out was something that made her begin to worry a bit. Some of the check in dates went as far back to the beginning of the year, or even the beginning of the year before. Before she could continue on, the door behind the counter began to creak open. She quickly put the book down, backing up and thinking of an explanation. To her surprise no one walked out. She stared in complete silence. A little peek in there wouldn’t hurt, right? Foolishly, she took a step forward. At first her steps were hesitant and small. As she edged closer, her steps became smooth and larger. She reached the door, and opened it.

The sight was something out of a horror movie. Bones, scattered about. Webs, hung all around, and an even larger one stood at the center. The thing that caught her eye though was her grandfather tied into the web. Hair stood on its ends as Lilac backed up slowly. She had to get help, and fast. She turned on her heels, only to be met face to face with Katz. Her eyes widened as she tried to run past him, only for him to grab her wrist and pulled her towards him. “Going somewhere?” He grabbed her other wrist and dragged her. He had plans for her…

\----------

Courage had finally arrived to the lobby. He looked around frantically, still finding no signs of Lilac anywhere. “Help! Help!!” He shouted in hopes of getting anyone’s attention. But nobody came. He groaned and looked behind the counter. “Where is everyone?” The door was open. Maybe he would be able to find someone there. With that thought in mind, he trotted towards the back. Two things came out of that. One positive thing was he found Eustace. But he was trapped in a large web, a spider slowly crawling towards him. Courage felt his blood run cold at the sight. Hastily, he began to lift up a broken board from the ground. The spider crawled Eustace, prepared to feast upon him before Courage slammed the board on the creature. A loud squish, and the spider was crushed. The pooch sighed in relief before using the board as a way to get to Eustace. He picked up the old man immediately before taking off. Or at least he had planned to. He stopped in his tracks, only being able to whimper at the sight before him. Katz stood in front of the door, Lilac tucked under his arm. “Courage get out!!” She shouted as she struggled. Katz slammed the door, his cold gaze never leaving him. “Leaving so soon?”

Just as Katz began to advance towards them, Courage chucked Eustace at him as an act of desperation. Lilac managed to pull away from the cat, nearly getting hit by her grandfather in the process. She stumbled back before running to Courage. “Did you just throw my grandpa?” “No time!!” Courage took her hand and began to run with her. There was no way they could use the door, so that staircase leading down was their best shot then. Lilac picked up the little dog, deciding it would be faster if she led the way. Katz groaned as he managed to lift himself up. He glared in their direction. “I wish you hadn’t done that.” He rolled Eustace off of his lap and began to follow the two.

Both of them were completely terrified at that rate. They were being hunted down by a murderous cat, along with that, there was nearly no chance of escaping the horrid motel. Lilac stopped in front of a door, glancing around to see if they were followed before opening the door. She closed it softly, sighing in relief as she leaned against the door. “It’s dark in here…” Courage hopped out of her arms and began to look for the light switch. He did find one, and he quickly flicked the switch. The light turned on and completely illuminated the room, revealing it’s monstrous horrors. Arachnids, all shapes and sizes, encased in jars on top of shelves. They seemed to be preserved, but that didn’t change the looks on Lilac’s and Courage’s faces. Their eyes were wide as saucers, and their blood ran cold. They wanted to leave the room, but the sound of pounding on the door proved that they would have to stay there a bit longer. The two ran in between shelves, just as the door bursted open. Katz stood there looking sinister as ever. “Here’s Katz…” He stalked forward, trying to find the both of them. Lilac held Courage tightly as they hid behind a shelf. The beagle quaked in her arms. Even in the comfort of his owner’s arms, it didn’t stop the rising anxiety he was having. Lilac looked over her shoulder, trying to get a view of Katz. He was so close, and she had to do something. With that thought in mind, she stood up and pushed the shelf over. His eyes widened as the shelf began to tip over, and landed on him. Lilac took off, Courage in her arms as they ran out of the room. The jars were broken, and spider guts oozed out. But that didn’t seem to stop Katz. “I wish you hadn’t done that…” He groaned as he pushed the shelf off of him.

The hallway felt impossibly endless as the two ran. Katz trailed behind them, wasting no energy in running. He’d catch them after all. The two came to a stop once they had reached a dead end. “Oh no… Dead end.” Lilac mumbled. Courage turned around, only to be met with a pair of yellow eyes staring back at him. Lilac turned, eyes widened slightly. Red fur slowly became visible as Katz stepped out from the shadows. “There’s no place to run,” He took another step forward. “And there’s no place to hide.” He edged forward before taking out a purple ball. He began to bounce it. “Care for a little sport before dying, dear boy?” His eyes darted towards Courage. “How about we arrange a deal to make things more interesting? If you win, I let you and your family go. If you lose…” He caught the ball, and held it in a tight grip. “I think you get the gist.” “Do I have to?” He whimpered softly.

With no response, Katz quickly tossed the ball towards the wall. The ball bounced off, and Courage immediately rushed to hit it back. The game continued on, with Lilac watching both of them as she tried to think of a plan to escape. “Are you keeping score?” Katz looked over at her, sipping tea before hitting the ball with his leg. She nodded as quickly as she could. “Yes, yes I am.” He gave her a nod before placing his tea down. Courage grew more weary as the game went on. But he couldn’t give up, especially with Lilac watching. He shook his head right as the ball headed towards him, and slammed it back. Katz on the other hand hadn’t even broken a sweat throughout the game. He laid on the ground, reading a book about insects. “Lovely, isn’t it?” He looked up at Lilac, who merely nodded. “You could say that.” The ball headed towards him, and with a simple flick with his tail he slapped it back.

Courage trembled tiredly as the game neared its end. As much as he didn’t want to give up, he was completely exhausted. He hit the ball back weakly, surprising as it was it was enough to send it back. Katz pulled out a racket, and slammed it against the ball. A hit like that was enough to send it flying at high speeds. Unfortunately for Courage, it hit him in his forehead. The room spun around him before he collapsed to the ground. Lilac’s eyes widened seeing him fall. She rushed towards him, lifting him up as she began to check on him. “Courage!” He groaned weakly, vision slightly blurry. Katz tossed the racket to the side and stalked towards them. He stood in front of them, grabbing his neck before turning to the side, a loud unsettling crack heard as he did so. He did it yet again on the opposite side before speaking. “Now dear girl,” He reached down and grabbed Courage, yanking him away from her. She cried out a bit and tried to reach out for him, only to cause Katz’s grip to tighten around the pooch’s neck. “You’re going to learn why no one ever checks out at the Katz Motel.” Courage began to choke out, trying to get out of his grip. Spiders climbed down from the ceiling and started to head towards Lilac. The teen began to yelp and kicked the spiders back, trying her best to avoid being bitten. Katz began to cackle maniacally seeing the two in the state of fear. Oh how he loved it when they were- ** _Pang!_**

A racket was slammed down onto the top of Katz’s head. The cat only stood there, paralyzed as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. Dizziness took over, and he fell to the ground. Muriel stood there, huffing with her hands placed at her hips. Lilac had just finished smashing all the spiders into bits before she ran to Muriel. “Grandma!” She was panting a bit, but managed to give her a half forced smile. “I guess we aren’t coming to motel’s anymore…?” “Not this one. The service here stinks!” She huffed. “Come along you two, we’ve got a long ride ahead of us.”

The relief that Courage felt as they sat in the truck was inexplicable. Even as he laid on Lilac’s lap. She stroked his pink and black spotted coat, leaning against the seat. Eustace was beside them, still trapped in web. They would worry about that later though. At least then, they would relish the safety and comfort of the truck. Muriel started it, and took off almost immediately. The sight of the motel slowly disappeared from view, with only the hope that there wouldn’t be any other unfortunate people to stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh this took longer than expected. But I'm glad with how it came out :)


End file.
